Monday, July 27, 2009

Weight Loss, my journey thus far, Part one

I have been obese for as long as I can remember. I have tried diets, starvation, working out and all the crazy drugs. Nothing has worked. I came to the point where I just decided that at the age of 35, I had a husband who loved me and a daughter that adored me, so what did it matter how big I was?

Well, at my check-up in January of 2008, I weighed in at 339lbs. At 5 foot 6, my BMI was 54.7 almost double the maximum for an average weight person. My doctor did some routine blood work to check my hormone levels. It came back that I had a severely elevated insulin levels. We always knew that my insulin was out of whack with my PCOS, but this was above and beyond what she expected. Dr. Cherry, my gynecologist, (I swear that is her real name) sat me down and explained what this meant in a way that no other doctor cared to take the time to do. She explained that the increased insulin levels were not only a precursor to type 2 diabetes, but they were a huge part of my recent weight gain. The more insulin in the body the more the body wanted to eat. The more I ate the more insulin I produced. I had to get serious about taking my metformin and eating better. She also prescribed Byetta, lizard spit injections that would help control my appetite and my insulin.

Fast forward to October 2008, I was sick of the shots, but willing to up the metformin. My insurance company refused to pay for me to go to Dr. Cherry, because she wasn't on their list. So, I started seeing a new OB/Gyn, who agreed to let me go off the Byetta and up the metformin. I also resolved to start eating better. I was still 339lbs, thus began my weight loss journey.

In March, I knew I had lost some weight, but did not have a scale to weigh myself at home. My sister had mentioned that she was going to do Weight Watchers. I had tried Weight Watchers in 2000 when I lived in Florida. Honestly, I had only done it for about 2 weeks, before falling back into my old habits of drive thru quickies and chocolate. At $12/week, Weight Watchers was "too expensive" for a single gal living in Orlando, I had reasoned. Truth be told, I spend five times that much on fast food.

I decided that if my sister, who had lost 120 lbs by changing her eating habits alone, admitted that she was willing to give WW's a go at it to help her lose her next 120 lbs, then maybe I should give it a go too. I pulled out my old books and decided that I would try to do it on my own. My husband told me that I would need a scale at home if I were serious, so I bought one the next day. My first time on the scale, I weighed in at 320lbs. For two weeks, I studied everything I could find on Weight Watchers and healthy eating. I counted my points and asked my sister a ton of questions. I lost 13lbs in 2 weeks. When my sister brought her WW's booklets to show me, I saw that she got little gold 5lb stars for each 5lbs that she lost. I wanted those stars. Sure, I could go out and buy a pack of gold stars, but it wouldn't be the same as earning them. I joined WW's the next week!

About Me

I'm weird, I know. You don't have to tell me; enough people have already told me. It is ok though. Love me or hate me. I am the person that God made me. I am significant because He says I am and it doesn't matter what people think. Sure wish I would have known that as a teenager...it would have saved me lots of heartache!
I have lots of off-topic thoughts, so from now on I am going to put those thoughts in italics to help left-brainers keep up with my train of thought!